The Last Airbenders
by KatAang32
Summary: This is an AU. ***Co-Writer Ms.K216*** In this universe Aang has a little sister, she loved him so much she was like his shadow. Always by his side. She joins him through all his journeys to become a fully realized Avatar.
1. Prologue

**I do not own AtLA or Nickelodeon, or have anything to do with them.**

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**This is an AU Collaboration between Myself and my friend Ms.K216. We very much hope you enjoy this.**

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**The Last Airbenders**

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**Prologue**

Aang was with his family camping as all Air Nomads do. He was trying to teach his little sister, Minori, how to do the marble trick. Aang was the oldest child of Asha and Anish's two children they were a very happy family. He just turned twelve and he had earned his Master's Tattoos already, no other kids his age were even close to getting theirs, Aang had even invented a new trick, he had already taught it to his little sister, he calls it 'The Air Scooter' First he creates a ball of air then hops on, balancing like a top. He and his little sister would race around all day on them.

Minori was like Aang's shadow the six and a half year old little girl followed him everywhere he went. She always looked up to him, he was just the most amazing Airbender, her parents seemed to agree, always praising Aang for his talent, how quickly he learned his forms, and unlike many Airbenders his age meditation and spirituality came so natural to him, that's why Minori was surprised to hear yelling, she hid behind her brother's sky bison, Appa and listen.

"No! I don't want to be! Why do you want me to leave our family?" Aang yelled at his father.

"Aang please, it's not our decision, I never want to lose you." His mother said trying to calm things down. "It's the decision of the council of five."

"How... How long have you known I am?" Aang asked his parents.

"Since you were two years old Aang." His father said.

"They... they want me to leave my family? To train around the world?" Aang felt so angry and lost, and so sacred.

"You weren't supposed to be told until you were sixteen, but the winds are changing and they need you now."

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After Aang checked to make sure his parents were asleep he tied a note to his father's staff. He was running away he did not want to be The Avatar; He tossed his sleeping bag, a bag of food and his staff into Appa's saddle. He jumped up onto Appa's head and softly called out to him "yip yip." Appa soared into the sky, Aang flew south, he flew until the sun rose again.

He had to get away from everything, "I'm just a kid! I can't be the Avatar... I don't want to be the Avatar!"

"You're The Avatar!" came a familiar voice from inside the saddle.

"Mini, why were you hiding in my saddle?" Aang asked as he hopped into the saddle to sit with her.

"Aang I'm scared I don't want you to leave our family. I don't want you to be The Avatar, I just want you to be my big brother and stay with me." The poor little girl had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Mini, I don't want to be either... I have an idea, Mom and Dad are going to be angry but right now I don't care! What are they going to ground me? How about we take a little trip, just you and me? we can go ride the hopping llamas then we can ride Fox Antelope, go see the singing gophers and finally head down to the South Pole to go penguin sledding. What do you think Minori?" Aang asked the small girl.

"Oh Aang that sounds so wonderful and fun." She said excitedly and clapped her hands.

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They had so much fun on their mini vacation; Aang wanted his baby sister to have wonderful memories to keep while he was gone. Their first stop was to see the singing gophers. Minori squeaked with happiness, as her brother played his flute the small creatures would pop up out of their holes and sang along with him.

Aang handed her his flute "You try Mini." He said with a smile.

Her eyes lit up as she took the flute; she didn't really know how to play a flute yet so it kind of made a strange squawking sound, and to her delight several gophers popped up at the same time mimicking her.

Their next stop was to ride the hopping llamas, the six-year-old sat in front of her brother as the llama they were ridding darted around the hilly landscape. Aang lost his hold and the siblings slid off the llama as it hopped out from underneath them. They laughed as they lay in the thick grasses.

Aang found a nice spot near a river to set up camp; he lit them a fire and they toasted some vegetables over the fire for dinner that night. After they ate their dinner Minori yawned and he laid her down on Appa's leg and put his blanket over her tucking her in; then he lay on the foot next to her.

"Aang?" She softly said.

"Yeah Mini." he replied.

"Thank you."

He turned over to look at her face, "For what?"

She let out another big yawn. "For spending this time with me, for not taking me back right away. For taking me to see all the wonderful animals and for playing with me. I love you, Aang."

"I love you too Mini, I wanted to have just a little time with you before I have to go..." he sighed "I don't want to but I know I have to... for the world." Aang told his baby sister.

"Aang, how come you didn't say goodbye to me before you run away?" Mini asked.

"I said goodbye in the letter, if I saw you I knew I wouldn't be able to go through with it." He told her.

"Thank you." She said again as she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning they were awoken by an angry platypus bear, it charged and it narrowly missed them "Aang, I'm scared! Please don't let it hurt us!"

Her cries of fear awoke something inside of him. His eyes and tattoos began to glow bright blue and he welded all four elements at once driving the Platypus bear away. After the platypus bear ran back into the forest, Aang stopped glowing and he collapsed on the ground.

"Aang!" Mini ran to him. "Aang! Are you okay?" She shook him. He let out a soft grown and rolled a bit, "Aang please be okay!" The girl said as she laid her head on his chest."

"I'm... I'm okay. I just... feel... so... weak." Aang could barely say before passing back out for a bit.

Mini ran to the water and filled their pouch for her brother, and then she returned to his side until he was fully able to sit up.

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They were heading to their last stop, to the South Pole to ride the penguins; before they knew it they were enveloped by a hurricane. Aang lashed Minori to himself so he wouldn't loose her, Appa was struggling against the strong winds flying close to the water. A huge wave crashed on top of them, the sea swallowing them whole. Aang's eyes and tattoos began to glow a bright blue, he formed a huge air bubble around the three, the water on the outside of the bubble froze creating a thick layer of Ice around the bubble.

Neither Aang nor Minori would ever see their parents ever again... All they would have is each other for the next 100 years.

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	2. 100 Years Later

**We do not own or have anything to do with AtLA or Nickelodeon**

**The last Airbenders**

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**Chapter 1**

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_***One Hundred years pass while Aang and his little sister Mini are frozen.***_

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A very furious dark skinned girl with sapphire blue eyes screamed at her older brother. "You are the most sexist, immature, nut brained..." she swung her arms around wildly as she yelled. Her brother's eyes got big as he watched huge cracks start to appear on the huge iceberg behind her. "Ugh, I'm embarrassed to be related to you! Ever since Mom died I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier!"

"Uh... Katara?" He said nervously as the iceberg cracked more.

"I even wash all the clothes! Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, NOT PLEASANT!" Katara yelled.

"Katara! Settle down!" Her brother pleaded.

"No, that's it. I'm done helping you. From now on, you're on your own!" The angry girl screamed at him.

A loud cracking sound caught her attention, she turned around and was shocked; she couldn't believe what she saw. The massive iceberg completely crumbled before them.

"Okay, you've gone from weird to freakish, Katara." Her brother told her.

"You mean I did that?" She said, disbelieving what she had done.

"Yup. Congratulations." He brother told her.

"But I can't be..." Katara started but was cut off by a large glowing sphere surfacing right I'm front of them. As the sphere surfaced the wake pushed the ice float backwards, and causing it to rock. After the rocking stopped Katara cautiously crawled to the edge to get a better look at the sphere. _'Why is it glowing?_ She thought to herself. As she studied the sphere she saw a figure inside, the glow was coming from whatever it was. She gasped when the figure opened its eyes. "It's alive, we have to help." She grabbed her brother's club and ran toward the frozen sphere.

Her brother tried to stop her. "Katara! Get back here! We don't know what that thing is!" He chased after her.

When Katara reached the bubble she struck it as hard as she could, then struck it again, cracking open the ice. A huge blast of air exploded forth as the top of it was blown right off. A blinding light shot into the sky, it was so bright the siblings had to cover their eyes.

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An iron hulled battleship with a spiked prow was cutting through the sea nearby. It is steam powered with a single smokestack. The foredeck is much longer than the afterdeck. The bridge appears to be several decks above the main deck. A young man on the foredeck, dressed in red, with a shaven-headed except for a pony-tail, staring intently at the shaft of light in front of the ship. The left side of his face is badly scarred around his left eye. The light dissipates.

**"**Finally." This young man says turning to an older man playing a tile game and drinking tea "Uncle, do you realize what this means?"

"I won't get to finish my game?" The man said.

"It means my search - it's about to come to an end." The young man Uncle lets out a low groan.

"That light came from an incredibly powerful source. It has to be him!" He said.

"Or it's just the celestial lights. We've been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don't want you to get too excited over nothing. Please, sit. Why don't you enjoy a cup of calming jasmine tea?" His uncle said.

Prince Zuko exploded with anger "I don't need any calming tea! I need to capture the Avatar. Helmsman, head a course for the light!"

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As the bright blue light dissipated Katara and her brother looked up and saw a young boy, he had arrow tattoos that were glowing the same color as the light that shot into the sky. Katara's brother raised his spear at the boy. "Stop!" he yelled to the glowing boy. The boy closed his eyes, took a step or two then collapsed, falling from where he was standing, 7 or 8 feet above them. Katara ran forward to catch him before he hit the hard ice.

Katara's brother came up and started poking the boy with the blunt end of his spear in the head, nervous that the boy may be from the Fire Nation, some sort of spy or something like that.

*Poke Poke PokePokePoke*

"Sokka Stop it!" Katara yelled at her brother.

The boy slowly opened his eyes, he saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. As she gently set him onto the ice he said, in a voice so low that Katara had to lean closer just to hear him. "I need to ask you something."

"What?" She asked him softly.

"Please... come closer." His voice, so weak and low that she did as he asked.

"What is it?" She asked him again.

The boy, Aang, in his regular playful voice, said "Will you go penguin sledding with me?"

Katara was caught by surprise at his request, she had been under the impression the boy was seriously hurt. "Uh... sure. I guess."

The boy startled them when he created a puff of air to stand himself up.

"Ahh!" Sokka yelled.

The tattooed boy looked around still confused about his surroundings "What's going on here?"

"You tell us! How'd you get in the ice?" Sokka said cautiously with his spear leveled at the boy. "And why aren't you frozen?"

The boy batted the spear tip way absentminded as he scanned his surroundings. "I'm not sure." He heard the squeak of his little sister's voice calling out his name, he frantically climb back into the broken ice bubble calling out "Mini!" once back inside the remains of the frozen bubble he collected his little sister up in his arms. "Mini! Are you ok? Wake up... Please wake up Mini!"

The tiny girl slowly opened her eyes, "Aang? Aang where are we, what happened?"

"Mini, thank the Spirits you're ok! I don't know." Aang said relieved that his sister was okay. The huge furry animal let out a low bellow, once Aang was satisfied that Mini was okay he turned his attention to the animal. "Appa! Are you alright?" Aang opened the animal's eye "Wake up buddy!" The animal's eye closed again, Aang did whatever he could think of to wake the giant beast up to no avail.

Katara and Sokka came walking around the ice wall to see Aang trying to lift up the animal's head. Both froze in shock at the sight of the animal. (it was larger than any other creature they'd seen before) When he nudged Aang with his head and licked him, Katara and Sokka noticed even the tongue was massive, almost twice the size of the young boy. "Haha!" The boy said. "You're okay!" He was hugging the head.

"What is that thing?" Sokka asked.

"This is Appa, my flying bison." Aang responded.

"Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister." Sokka said in disbelief.

"I have..." Aang began but was cut off by the sounds of the Bison getting ready to sneeze, he knew exactly what was coming and curled himself into a tight crouch as the bison sneezed, sending a huge ball of snot that hit Sokka.

"Ewww! Aahh!" Sokka said as he tried to get it off of himself by rolling on the ice and show.

From behind one of the beasts six legs came a tiny girl, giggling at Sokka. "Don't worry. It'll wash out." The shy girl said.

"Ugh!" Sokka said, still grossed out didn't seem to notice the girl.

Katara however did. "Hello, what's your name?"

The girl ran and hid behind her brother, he put his arms around her, holding her close, she poked her head out and responded, "Minori... You're really pretty."

Katara smiled at the girl, "Thank you, Minori."

"So, do you guys live around here?" Aang asked as he scanned the vast sea of ice, snow, and water.

Sokka forgot about the bison snot on him and stepped in front of his sister. "Don't answer that! Did you see that crazy bolt of light? They're probably trying to signal the Fire Navy!"

Katara looked at both of the children standing in front of her, innocent smiles on their faces. "Oh, yeah, I'm sure they're spies for the Fire Navy. You can tell by the evil look in their eyes."

"The paranoid one is my brother, Sokka. You never told us your name." Katara said to him.

Aang started to respond but his face started to twitch funny just before he sneezed, "I'm A... aaaahhhh... ahhhhhh... aaah aaah aaah AAAAAAACHOOOO!" He shot upward like a rocket into the sky, and then gently floated back down. "I'm Aang, and this is my little sister Minori." He said after he landed, rubbing his nose.

"You just sneezed... and flew ten feet in the air!" Sokka said incredulously.

"Really? It felt higher than that." Aang responded.

Katara gasped in shock, "You're airbenders!"

"We sure are." Aang smiled hugging his little sister against himself.

Sokka turned around and started talking to himself. "Giant light beams... flying bison... airbenders... I think I've gotten Midnight Sun Madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense." He stopped at the edge of the iceberg.

"Well, if you guys are stuck we can give you a lift on Appa." Aang said and Mini nodded. Aang and Mini airbends themselves onto Appa's head, Mini climbed into the sky bison's enormous saddle as Aang settled himself comfortably, reigns in hand.

"We'd love a ride! Thanks!" Katara said as she climbed up and sat next to the small girl already seated in the saddle.

"Oh, no... I am not getting on that fluffy snot monster." Sokka said.

"Appa is not a snot monster!" Mini angrily said to Sokka.

"Are you hoping some other kind of monster will come along and give you a ride home? You know... before you freeze to death?" Katara said to her brother.

Sokka turns to face her, with a angry look on his face, he starts to respond to his sister's snappy comment then gives up, tossing his arms into the air for a second, letting them fall back down. He climbs into the saddle and sits against the back of it, arms crossed in front of his chest, and a wore a grumpy look on his face.

"Okay. First time flyers hold on tight!" Aang called back to Sokka and Katara.

"Hold on tight!" Mini copied her brother.

"Yip, Yip!" Aang called out, shaking the reigns, ready for the sky bison to take off into the sky. Appa flaps his long flat tail then launches into the air, but instead of flying, Appa did a belly flop into the water and began to swim. Aang shook the reigns again "Come on Appa. Yip yip." The beast let out a low groan refusing to obey his master.

"Fly, Appa!" Mini called out to the bison. "Yip yip!"

"Wow. That was truly amazing." Sokka said sarcastically from his seat.

"Appa's just tired." Aang said. "A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky."

"You'll see." Minori said.

Aang made a motion with his hand, like it was soaring through the sky. His eyes settled on Katara, he had been all over the world, but had never seen a girl as beautiful as the girl sitting in the saddle of his sky bison.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" She asked him.

He hadn't ever realized he was staring at her let alone smiling up at her. "Oh... I was smiling"

Mini let out a soft giggle seeing her brother act so awkwardly.

Sokka was discussed by this "Uuuuugh." Mini shot him a dirty look. Appa continued to swim along as they headed toward the small Southern Water Tribe village.

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"I'm going to go to bed now." Zuko's uncle said with an exaggerated yawn. "Yep. A man needs his rest. Prince Zuko, you need some sleep. Even if you're right and the Avatar is alive, you won't find him. Your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all tried and failed."

"Because their honor didn't hinge on the Avatar's capture. Mine does. This coward's hundred years in hiding are over." The disgruntled Prince responding

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As Appa swam along, everyone but Aang and Katara had already fallen asleep. Katara crawled across the huge saddle next to a sleeping Mini and rested herself against the horn of the saddle facing down at Aang. He was lying on Appa's head looking up at the sky when Katara caught his attention again.

"Hey." She said looking down at this odd boy that seamed to have come from nowhere.

"Hey. Whatcha thinkin' about?" He asked the pretty girl.

"I guess I was wondering... Your being an airbender and all... If you had any idea what happened to the Avatar." Katara said to him.

Aang took on a worried look, "Uhh... No. I didn't know him... I mean, I knew people that knew him, but I didn't. Sorry." He recovered quickly.

"Okay. Just curious. Goodnight." She had a bit of a sad tone to her voice.

"Sleep tight." Aang said up to her. After Katara turned away from him his face took on a scared expression.

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	3. Penguin Sledding

**Chapter 2**

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_Minori watched in horror as they were thrown about in the storm,_ _Aang clung to her as a huge wave came down on top of Appa. She couldn't see she couldn't breath. She knew this was the end she knew she would die. A brilliant blue light shown through the vast darkness, at first she couldn't tell what it was or where it was coming from. She looked to the light and saw that it was coming from her brother, his eyes and tattoos were bright blue. She was scared his face seemed angry, then everything went black again._

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH" Minori screamed as she woke up from the nightmare. She had fallen asleep next to her brother, her scream made him sit up fast, the last time he heard her scream like that was when the platypus bear was going to attack them.

"Mini! What's wrong?" Aang asked as he sit up rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. His younger sister sat up too. She was still shaken from the dream but knew it would hurt Aang if she told him what it had been about.

"It's nothing Aang... just a bad dream."

"Mini... I know you better than that what's wrong?" Aang pressed. Minori was about to answer when Katara walked into their tent.

"Aang, Minori! Wake up! Everybody wants to meet you!" Katara said as she woke up the airbender siblings, pulling them out of their little tent. "Aang, Minori, this is the entire village. Entire village, Aang and his sister Minori." Katara was so excited to share what she found.

Aang bows to the village people. "Uh... why are they all looking at us like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?" Aang said, Minori held tight to her brother's hand.

A plump little old lady steps forward. "Well, no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct until my granddaughter and grandson found you."

"Extinct? What do you mean extinct?! We... We just left our mom and dad only a few days ago! How can they be extinct?!" The Air Nomads said at the same time.

"This is my grandmother." Katara told them.

"Call me Gran Gran" The old woman said to them.

Sokka walked up to the pair and took Aang's staff from him to look at. "What are these? weapons? You can't stab anything with them." Sokka asked as he looked at Aang and Minori's staffs.

"Not for stabbing." Minori said

"They're for airbending" Aang said creating a jet of air to take his staff from Sokka. Aang and Mini opened their staffs at the same time.

The children of the village were in awe over the contraptions and how the two airbenders opened them with what seemed like magic to them. "Magic!" A little girl, about Mini's age said, "Do it again!"

"Not magic airbending!" Mini said.

"It lets us control the air currents around our gliders and fly." Aang said.

"You know, last time I checked, humans can't fly." Sokka said.

"Check Again!" The Airbender siblings said in unison. Both launching themselves into the air they flew high, doing barrel rolls around each other, they did loop-d-loops and shot themselves high into the sky, falling and swooping, like a well choreographed dance in the sky. The children of the village were amazed as they watched the airbenders glide like birds.

The village people were in awe, they had never seen a person fly before, the siblings were an amazing sight. "Whoa... they're flying... So amazing!"

Aang looked down at the beautiful blue eyed girl, she smiled at him, her smile distracted him and he slammed right into a odd shaped pillar of snow, it collapsed on impact. "Oof!" Aang said.

"My watchtower!" Sokka yelled, his voice cracking as he did.

Minori started laughing "That was a watchtower?" Sokka grimaced the small girl.

"You two are amazing!" Katara said to Aang and Minori, as she helped Aang stand back up. Aang shows off by twirling his glider to shut it.

"Aaahhhhh" Sokka yells as his watchtower collapses the rest of the way right on top of him. Minori started laughing even harder as she watched Sokka dig himself out of the snow pile "Great. You're airbenders, Katara's a waterbender, together you can just waste time all day long."

"You're a waterbender?!" Mini said excitedly to Katara.

Katara blushes a bit. "Well... sort of. Not yet."

Gran Gran took Katara's hand, leading her away from the airbenders. "All right. No more playing. Come on, Katara, you have chores."

"I told you! He's the real thing, Gran Gran! I finally found a bender to teach me." Katara said excitedly as her grandmother lead her away.

"Katara, try not to put all your hopes in this boy." Gran Gran told her.

"But he's special. I can tell. I sense he's filled with much wisdom." Katara said.

She looked over to Aang and Minori, all the children were laughing, Aang had his tongue stuck to his staff. "Sthee? Now my tongue ith thuck to my sthaff."

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Zuko fire at a guard, missing his target. "Again," Zuko's uncle said yelled at him.

The guard launches another attack at Zuko, he dodges just in time, the attack missed. "Ha! Heeya!" Zuko cried out as he did couple back flips, landing behind the guards.

The plump man sighed as he got up "No! Power in firebending comes from the breath. Not the muscles. The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire." He demonstrated the move to his nephew, he released a burst of fire. "Get it right this time!"

"Enough!" The prince said angrily, "I've been drilling this sequence all day. Teach me the next set. I'm more than ready."

"No, you are impatient. You have yet to master your basics." the old man growled_ "_Drill it again!"

The prince became very angry, he let out a growl, " Grrrr... huh!" he blasted one of the guards backwards, "The sages tell us that the Avatar is the last airbender. He must be over a hundred years old by now. He's had a century to master the four elements. I'll need more than basic firebending to defeat him. You WILL teach me the advanced set!"

The old man gave in to the brat prince and turned to his lunch. "Very well. But first I must finish my roast duck. Num num... num..."

* * *

Sokka was pacing back and forth, giving his troops a war speech "Now men, it's important that you show no fear when you face a firebender. In the Water Tribe, we fight to the last man standing. For without courage, how can we call ourselves men?" His 'Men' were a small group of little boys, most of which were still toddlers.

One boy raised his hand waiting for Sokka to call on him. "I gotta pee!" he wined.

"Listen! Until your fathers return from war, they're counting on you to be the men of this tribe. And that means no potty breaks." Sokka scolded them.

"But I really gotta go." The boy said again.

Sokka sighed, Okay... who else has to go?" he asked them. All of the boys raised their hands.

Katara came walking over to Sokka and his 'men' "Have you seen Aang? Gran Gran said he disappeared over an hour ago, Minori has been working on that snow man by herself for a while now." Katara had given Minori one of her thick parkas to keep her warm.

Katara walked with Sokka and the little boys to the village toilet. Aang came out, "Wow! Everything freezes in there!" the boys laughed at the goofy kid.

"Ugh! Katara, get him out of here. This lesson is for warriors only." Sokka told his sister.

"Wheeee!" Minori had abandoned her snowman and began to play slide with Appa's tail, it was propped up on what looked like a meat drying set-up. Several of the village children, and Minori's brother were playing slide with the cute little girl.

"Stop! Stop it right now!" Sokka yelled at the little boys that had abandoned their 'warrior' speech to play with the new kids. Sokka looked over at Aang, "What's wrong with you? We don't have time for fun and games with a war going on."

Aang gave Sokka a confused look, "What war? What are you talking about?"

"He's obviously crazy." Mini laughed.

Sokka thought the kid must be joking "You're kidding, right?"

Aang's mind wandered and so did his eyes. "PENGUIN!" He yelled excitedly. He yelled so loud that it echoed all around them. The penguin looked in the direction the loud sound had come from, it made a weird squawking noise and waddles away as quickly as it could. Aang grabbed Minori's hand and they both took off using their airbending skills to run as quickly as they could.

"He's kidding, right?" Sokka asked.

* * *

Katara followed Aang and Minori's footprints in the snow, they were oddly light. She wanted to make sure the two kids were okay, as she reached the top of a snow hill she could Aang and Minori waddling around and squawking like the penguins. "Aang? Minori?"

"Haha! Hey, come on little guy. Wanna go sledding?" Aang said as he and Mini chased after a penguin, he lunged at it but it got away. "Oof! Heh heh, I have a way with animals." Aang and Minori started waddling around again. _"_Yarp! Yarp yarp! Yarp! Yarp yarp! Yarp!" They said as they waddled around.

Katara started laughing, "Hahaha... Aang, I'll help you catch a penguin if you teach me waterbending."

Aang's eyes went huge and a grin appeared on his face, "You got a deal! Just one little problem. I'm an airbender, not a waterbender. Isn't there someone in your tribe who can teach you?"

Minori continued to waddle around "Yarp!" chase after the penguins

A shadow came across Katara's face, her smile disappeared, "No. You're looking at the only waterbender on the whole South Pole."

Katara being sad made Aang's smile fall. "This isn't right. A waterbender needs to master water. What about the North Pole? There's another Water Tribe up there, right? Maybe they have waterbenders who could teach you."

Katara looked up at him, still sad. " Maybe. But we haven't had contact with our sister tribe in a long time. It's not exactly 'turn right at the second glacier.' It's on the other side of the world."

Aang's smile grew as he got an idea. "But you forget: I have a flying bison. Appa, Mini, and I can personally fly you to the North Pole. Katara, we're gonna find you a master!"

Katara perked up at his idea. "That's..." she became sad once again, "I mean, I don't know. I've never left home before."

"Well, you think about it." Aang said casually "But in the meantime, can you teach us how to catch one of these penguins?"

Katara cleared her throat and made herself sound teacherly. "Okay, listen closely my young pupils. Catching penguins is an ancient and sacred art. Observe." She pulled a small fish from her coat and tossed it at Aang. As soon as he caught it he and Minori disappeared, giggling, beneath the group of penguins.

They loured two penguins to the top of the hill. Katara was sitting on her's and Minori was sitting on the other, "How do yo make this go?" She asked.

"Like this!" Aang jumped onto the bird behind his sister causing the penguin to start sliding down the hill.

"Hey! No fair!" Katara yelled as she push-started herself laughing as she picked up speed. They laughed and giggled as the penguins zoomed down the slope in the landscape on their bellies, rocketing off of the ice bank, Katara and her penguin took a tunnel as Aang and Minori's took a jump landing just in front of Katara, Minori squealed with joy as her tummy got a tickling feeling inside. Katara took a jump as well as taking the lead, "I haven't done this since I was a kid!" Katara yelled behind her.

"You still are a kid!" Aang hollered to her.

They came up to some tunnels each penguin down it's own, every once in a while there was a break in the tunnels allowing them to see each other. They exited the tunnels at the bottom of the hill ,the penguins slid to a stop at the bottom of the hill all of them where laughing as they rolled off of the penguins. The penguins penguins got up and waddled away from them.

Aang turned "Whoa... What is that?" There was a huge metal ship on the ice, it was lifted into the air by slanted ice pillars, you could tell it had been in some kind of battle.

"A Fire Navy ship, and a very bad memory for my people." Katara said, she looked sad, but very serious at the same time.

"Lets go look at it!" Minori says pulling her brother's hand.

"Aang, Minori, stop! We're not allowed to go near it. The ship could be booby trapped." Katara told the siblings.

"If you wanna be a bender, you have to let go of fear." Aang told Katara.

Katara looked at the ship, deep down inside she knew she should, she didn't really want to.

"Katara?" Minori said as she extended her hand to her, waiting for Katara to take it. Katara got a little smile and took the little girl's hand following Aang to the ship. The three of them climbed into the raised ship through a hole in the hull. They curiously, but carefully explored the dilapidated ship.

"This ship has haunted my tribe since Gran Gran was a little girl. It was part of the Fire Nation's first attacks." Katara told them.

"Okay, back up. I have friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation. I've never seen any war." Aang said, he was becoming very confused, he wasn't understanding anything she was saying to him.

"Aang, how long were you two in that iceberg?" Katara had realized that if he knew nothing of the one hundred year war he, and Minori, must have been in there quite a while.

"I don't know... a few days, maybe?" He sighed.

"I think it was more like a hundred years!" Katara's words shocked and confused the airbending siblings.

"What?! That's impossible! Do I look like a hundred-twelve year old man to you?" Aang asked her.

"Think about it. The war is a century old. You don't know about it because, somehow, you were both in there that whole time. It's the only explanation!" Katara said in awe.

Aang was hit hard by this idea and takes a few steps backwards, he slid down the wall he had backed into. "A hundred years! I can't believe it." Minori sat down and hugged her big brother, she was also in shock she couldn't understand any of this either.

The looks on their faces broke Katara's heart. "I'm sorry, Aang. Maybe somehow there's a bright side to all this." She resisted the urge to wrap her arms around them.

Aang lifted his head and looked into Katara's sparkling blue eyes. "I did get to meet you."

"You're pretty!" Minori said.

Katara couldn't help but smile, she extended her hands out to help them up. "Come on. Let's get out of here." They took her hands and she pulled them both up. "Aang? Lets head back. This place is creepy."

"Huh?" Aang said as his foot caught on some sort of wire. Metal started clinking as he triggered a mechanism that brought down a grate blocking their exit. "What's that you said about booby traps?" Machinery in the room starts turning on as the clinking sound continued, steam blowing out of cracks in the piping the pressure caused wheels to start turning. Suddenly they heard the the scream and loud explosion of a flair being launched. Katara Aang, and Minori could see the bright colors burst forth and twinkling as they fell back towards the ice. "Uh oh!" was all Aang could think of at the moment. He looked up and saw a hole in the ceiling. "Mini, Piggy back!" he called to his sister and she hopped onto his back. "Hold on tight!" He said to both girls as he picked up Katara. Aang launched himself, both girls holding tightly, out the hole.

* * *

Prince Zuko saw a Fire Nation flare go off in the distance, he got out his telescope to see where it had come from. He stops on the ship on the ice, he saw a small figure hop out of the ship, making great leaps that a regular person could not. Once it landed back on the ice Zuko could see the figure turn into three, all running to the south. "The last airbender. Quite agile for his old age. Wake my uncle! Tell him I found the Avatar..." He ordered. He scans the ice in the direction the figures were running, stopping on a tiny village consisting of one large igloo and several small tents "... as well as his hiding place."

* * *

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	4. Prince Zuko

The children of the village spotted Katara and the airbender siblings walking towards the village, they all got excited and ran to greet them. "Yay! Aang AND Minori are back!"

Sokka had also spotted the trio from his newly, but poorly, built watchtower. He hurried and put himself between the village children and the airbenders. He began to yell, pointing at Aang, "I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?"

"Aang didn't do anything! It was an accident." His sister told him.

Aang pressed his hands to his head. "Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well…" he paused for a moment. "We 'boobied' right into it."

Gran Gran shook her head disappointingly. "Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger."

"Don't blame Katara! Aang and I brought her there." Mini sighed, feeling bad for getting her new friend in trouble.

Aang hung his head in shame. "It's my fault."

"Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemies!" Sokka hollered and the children did as they were told walking back over to Sokka and Gran Gran. "The foreigners are banished from our village!"

"Sokka, you're making a mistake they are only children, Minori isn't much older than some of the children here!" Katara yelled angrily at her brother.

"No! I'm keeping my promise to Dad. I'm protecting you from threats like them!" Sokka snapped

back at her.

"Aang and Minori are not our enemies!" Katara said pointing to the airbenders. "Don't you see? Minori and her brother brought us something we haven't had in a long time. Fun."

"Fun? We can't fight firebenders with fun!" He yelled back.

"You should try it sometime." Aang said with a smile, trying to break the tension between the water tribe siblings. Mini nodded in agreement with Aang.

Sokka turned to the airbenders and yelled "Get out of our village. Now!"

"Grandmother, please, don't let Sokka do this." Katara pleaded to her grandmother.

"Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it is best if the airbenders leave." Gran Gran said sternly.

Katara's grandmother broke her heart. How could she say something so horrible? "Then I'm banished too!" Katara said as she turned, she took Aang by his shoulder and took Minori's small hand into her own and begins to walk off. "C'mon, you guys, let's go!"

As they began to walk towards Appa, Sokka yelled, pointing to his sister. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To find a waterbender! Minori and Aang are taking me to the North Pole!" She yelled at her brother.

Aang was confused for a moment then remembered his offer from earlier and cheered up a bit, "We are? Great!"

Sokka once again began to yell. "Katara! Would you really choose them over your tribe? Your own family?"

Katara didn't know how to feel about what her brother just said. She wanted to find someone that could teach her to waterbend but her family is all she ever had.

"Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family." The boy told her, he took his sister's hand as they walked towards Appa.

"So, you're leaving the South Pole? This is goodbye?" Katara would miss this goofy kid and his sister.

Aang put on a smile, though he didn't really want to leave. "Thanks for penguin sledding with us."

"I'm going to miss you Katara." Minori said sadly.

"Where will you go?" Katara asked, concerned for the safety of the two children.

Aang boosted his sister up onto Appa, "Guess we'll go to The Southern Air Temple… From there we will figure out what to do. Right Mini?"

"Right!" the six year old said from inside Appa's saddle.

Aang hopped up on Appa's head and took the reins in his hands. "It was nice meeting everyone."

"Let's see your bison fly now, air boy." Sokka said in a snarky tone.

"Come on, Appa, you can do it!" Mini cheered, reaching out of the saddle to pet the bison.

"Yip! Yip!" Aang hollered as the great six-legged beast groaned then got up onto its feet.

"Yeah, I thought so." Sokka said.

A little girl in pigtails, just a bit younger than Minori runs up and stops next to Katara, "Aang, and Minori! Don't go! We'll miss you!"

"We'll miss you too." Aang and Minori said at the same time. Aang turns to take a look at the beautiful blue eyed girl, whose arms he woke up in, one last time committing her to his memory, then turned away. "Come on, boy." He said to Appa. The beast began to walk slowly away from the tiny village.

Katara watched sadly as they left. Her grandmother came up behind her, "Katara, You'll feel better after you…"

"You happy now? They're just children! There goes my one chance of becoming a real waterbender!" Katara angrily cut her grandmother off, then stomped away leaving her grandmother standing there all alone.

Sokka was directing the group of small boys. "Alright! Ready our defenses! The Fire Nation could be on our shoes any moment!"

One of the boys raised head, doing the potty dance. "But, I gotta…."

Sokka cut him off forcefully, pointing to the village walls and 'towers' "And no potty breaks!"

* * *

Aang and Minori were huddled together, Mini still wearing the blue parka Katara had given her. "I liked her a lot, Aang. She was so nice."

"Yeah, I liked her too." Aang said, Appa groaned in agreement with the siblings. Aang looked out to sea, looking in the direction of the Southern Air Temple, wondering if he could see it from where he was. His eye caught on something he didn't expect to see, a Fire Navy ship steaming towards the small village. "The village! Mini you stay here with Appa!"

"No! I want to go too!" Minori said to her brother.

"You are safer here, Minori!" Aang yelled back at his sister. "Appa, you watch Minori!" Appa groaned in response.

* * *

Sokka was preparing for the battle that he knew would come. He had his warrior's garb on, fingerless gloves, arm wraps, boots. He had also painted his face with black, white and gray paint.

* * *

Prince Zuko's ship was at full speed, heading to the Avatar's hiding place. He was standing, his arms extended out to his sides as his attendants helped him into his armor. They put on his breastplate, shoulder guard, and finished with his helmet.

* * *

Sokka silently stood on the village ice wall scanning the mist for any sign of the enemy. He knew they were coming, he could feel it inside, his warrior's senses told him so. A grayish object caught his attention, then a deep rumbling sound came from inside the mist, the ground beneath his feet began to shake. As parts of the wall began to crumble the villagers were all scared, Sokka was right and now they all knew it. His guard tower collapsed for the second time today.

"Oh man!" He said disappointedly.

The villagers were all running around scared, Katara stopped in the center of the village she watched as her brother stood his ground on the ice wall. A massive shadow cut through the mist, revealing the bow of a metal ship.

"Ohhh, man!" Sokka said again.

The ship was getting closer to Sokka, to the village. It cut through the ice with ease, chunks of ice cracking and splitting, tents collapsed around the village. The villagers were all huddled together, the children clung to their mothers.

Katara watched as Sokka, bravely stood his ground, even though everything was crumbling around him. "Sokka, get out of the way!" She screamed.

The ship came to a halt, but not before it caused a huge chunk of the Ice wall to slide down, carrying Sokka with it. Steam rose from the ship.

Katara stood with the other tribe women as far back as they could stand from the ship. Hearts pounding panic spread, yet Katara took a deep breath and slowly released it, like her brother, stood her ground.

Sokka looked up at the ship and also took a deep breath, slowly releasing it. A loud screeching noise of metal on metal cut through the silence as bowsprit of the ship opens and folds out and down onto the village floor. Sokka fell backwards to avoid being crushed by the bowsprit. Steam rose from within, when the steam cleared Prince Zuko and several of his soldiers were standing at the top of the long gangplank that the bowsprit had turned into. The group of Firebenders descended in formation, Prince Zuko in the lead.

Sokka, standing once again, releases a loud war cry as he charges at the Prince. Zuko casually yet expertly kicks Sokka's weapon out of his hand and then kicks him in the face, sending him face first into the snow and ice below. Sokka struggles to get free of the ice he is now stuck in. The villagers were practically pressed against the village's far wall scared, as the soldiers advanced on them. The soldiers all stopped and prince Zuko stepped forward to address the villagers. He scanned all the women then walks over to the beautiful blue eyed girl standing next to an old woman. "Where are you hiding him?" Zuko said loudly. He scans the group of villagers again, no one responded. Zuko becomes angrier and grabs Gran Gran showing her to the village, the girl in front looked even more frightened. "He'd be about this age? Master of all elements?" He yelled at them again. And again no response, the villagers looked scared and confused, like they had no clue what he was talking about. He grew even angrier and throws the old woman back next to Katara. With a cry of frustration he sends a blast of flames over the villagers' heads, causing them to cower before him in fear.

"I know you're hiding him!" Zuko yelled.

Sokka, face paint smudged off, got up and retrieved his weapon and charges at Zuko with another battle cry. Zuko turns to Sokka, annoyed at this snow savage. He dodges the attack and flips Sokka over his head, Zuko fires a blast of flames at Sokka. Sokka barely manages to roll out of the way in time throwing his boomerang at Zuko as he does. Zuko was caught by surprise, barely avoiding being hit by it. He turns back to Sokka, angry over the near miss.

A little boy from the group of villagers cries out "Show no fear!" As he threw a bone spear to his leader.

Sokka caught the spear and charged at Zuko, as Sokka reached him, Zuko breaks off pieces of the spear. He hit Sokka in the forehead a few times with the end of the bone spear a few times then throws the pieces to the ground, annoyed with the young man. Sokka also sinks to the ground rubbing his head. Zuko stood sternly over Sokka. A flash in the sky caught Sokka's eye as he watched his boomerang return. It slammed into the back of Zuko's head, knocking his helmet askew.

Zuko became furious, he made fists and created fire daggers standing over Sokka, he had had enough from this snow savage and was ready to deal with him.

Aang came zooming into the village on the back of a penguin, staff in hand. He slide right into Zuko's legs, knocking him face first, butt up, into the snow. Zuko's helmet landed on his butt.

The village children began to cheer and laugh as Aang slid to a stop in front of all of them. Minori sliding in on her own penguin, staff in hand also, only moments later. The penguins push their rider off then waddle away.

"Hey Katara. Hey Sokka." Aang casually said.

"Hi… Aang. Thanks for comin'." Sokka said dryly, glaring over at Aang's sister afterwards.

"Mini, I told you to stay behind." Aang told his sister.

"You know me better than that! I wasn't going to leave you to fight alone." Mini grinned up at him

"Go to Katara." Aang sighed and watched Mini go to Katara, then looked at the firebenders.

Zuko got back up and readied himself to fight, taking a strong stance. Aang was at the ready with his staff, he positioned himself between the angry firebender and the villagers. The firebender started closing in on Aang and the villagers, Aang pushed them backwards with a strong blast of air. Zuko was able to hold his ground, he shielded his face from the wind.

"Looking for me?" Aang asked Zuko.

"You're the Airbender? You're the Avatar?" Zuko asked incredulously.

"Aang?" Katara was shocked.

"No way." Sokka said just as shocked as his sister was.

Zuko and Aang began to circle each other in the middle of the village, the area that had become

an arena.

"I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training. Meditating. You're just a child!" Zuko

spat.

"Well, you're just a teenager." Aang said back.

Zuko began to fire blast after blast at Aang, until Aang cried out, fear showed on the boy's face. Aang twirled his staff like a propeller at each blast, dissipating them, Aang noticed that some of blast got close to the villagers causing them to cry out in fear. Aang looks back at the villagers and realizes he couldn't protect them all.

Aang knew there was only one way he could protect the entire village, and his little sister. "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?" He asked Prince Zuko.

Zuko paused for a few moments then straightens and nods swiftly. The soldiers came forward and took Aang's staff and lead him to the ship.

Katara rushed forward. "No, Aang! Don't do this!"

The twelve year old boy looked at Katara, taking in for what he thought to be his last time ever seeing her, put on a brave face. "Don't worry, Katara, it'll be okay… Mini, Stay with Katara." A soldier pushed him forward. "Take care of Appa and Mini for me… Just until I get back, Katara."

Zuko took up the rear as they all walked up the gangplank. "Head a course to the Fire Nation. I'm going home."

Katara and Minori watched in silence, a few tears falling, Aang turned to give a brave smile but it disappeared when he saw the pain in the two girls' eyes. The gangplank closed behind him, he felt so sad.

Mini watched as the Fire Nation ship disappeared into the sea. She fell to her knees, absolutely beside herself due to the loss of her brother. They'd managed to survive for a hundred years in an iceberg but couldn't stay out of trouble for more than a day. She fell to her knees, covering her face with her hands.

"Minori, we're going to find him." Katara tried to comfort the young airbender, gently resting her hand on Mini's shoulder. Sokka crossed his arms.

"We aren't going to do anything like that! We need to stay away from the Fire Nation!" Sokka glared at Mini. "They were staying away from us until you and your brother showed up."

"Sokka!" Katara reprimanded. "You know as well as anyone else here that it was only a matter of time before the Fire Nation came back here to finish what they started!"

"Oh, so now it's my fault?" Sokka exploded back at Katara. Mini frowned, she didn't want to see the siblings fighting when she'd just watched her brother get taken away from her for Spirits knew how long.

"I need to be by myself." Mini announced, getting up and walking away. Katara and Sokka were both so wrapped up in there own argument that they hadn't heard her or even notice when she walked away. The little airbender girl walked around aimlessly, making patterns in the snow with her footprints. She knew she needed to get Aang back, but how? Frustrated, Mini picked up a handful of snow, crafting it into a sphere before launching it at a snowpile not too far away. She frowned when she heard a soft groan come from the area. When she went over to investigate she grinned. "Appa!" Minori jumped onto Appa's head, spreading her arms out to hug him. "We need to find Aang!" She told the bison as she climbed up and took the reigns. "Yip yip! Come on! I know you can do it! Yip Yip!"


End file.
